In The Mean Time

The TfT project is coming along nicely and I expect to finish them off in the next day or two.

However, one project I was able to knock out inbetween painting was these nifty Ultramarines objective markers:

For the Tots-2011!

This year's theme is Imperial Guard and so the Freebootaz are putting together three IG regiments. I will be contributing to the standard Cadian-style regiment the following; two Sabre Defense platforms (again, thanks Steve!) and two heavy weapon teams.



I hope to give the teams a miniature diorama feel so I've tried to goo all out with detail. Or as least as much as you can fit on a 60mm basis with sandbags and teh like.

The regiments will be offered up on Ebay. I'll post the link when the time comes.

Captain Titus

40K Radio is wanting to plaster their new digs with miniatures and announced a contest for a life size (non-functional unfortunately) chainsword. Runners-up (which is what I'm aiming for) get T-shirts or something. The subject is to convert a model to look like Captain Titus from Space Marine the videogame. This meant some serious putty work to bulk up the face (I used a Space Wolf as the base but the cheeks were to think so I had to muscle it up), and the heraldry. On one shoulder I was able to cheat from existing parts but for the "U" on the chest, the figure's left shoulder, loincloth, knee-pad decoration, and the chain sword I pushed my skills to the limit. Which is not very far really. The knee pads themselves are made from carved-down Terminator shields I had. The rest of the parts were standard kit. The base is from the batch I created and molded myself. Enjoy:

Land Raider

Next up I'm torn between submitting an entry for the 40K Radio competition, starting my donation for the Toys for Tots army or working on some converted Honor Guard since GW is taking its sweet time converting those over to finecast (yes, I know two come with the Calgar set but that is waaay to few). I also purchased the Conversion Beamer from Chapterhouse Studios so I will be doing a product review on that in the near future.

Meanwhile:


Happy with how it turned out although I may have gone a little too heavy on the damage on some parts.

A Tip for Keeping GW Paint Pots Open

Sure, dipping your brush directly into the paint pot is death incarnate to the bristles. GW, with only your best interests at heart, has been kind enough to engineer awat the ability to leave the lid open, removing the danger for you by making it impossible to get the paint out. Conveniently it also denies you the ability leave the pot open for any other reason you might want to. Well I don't need them to save me from myself and after much frustration the technique to keep the fething pots open came to me in a flash of inspiration from parts lying around:



Take that GW, now that paint will dry out faster and I'll have to buy more from you whether you wanted me to or not!

Winning.

Back on Altitude: Ultramarines for July and August

Got caught up with my July and August 40K Radio Freebootaz Motivational Painting Challenge entries. With work heating up it has been an effort to get them done in time but I am extremely please with the results. On the down side, money is still tight and I don't have a good location in the new house so I have not set up a new photography area so the effect is varied as you will see:

With flash:



And without:



Overall the painting challenge has been fun but I think one problem is that in many ways it slows me down by forcing me down a certain path that I may or may not want to go. I will probably not do next years for several reasons, not the least of which I am sort of topped off on armies for the time being are really just need to catch up a few pieces. I've got some guard projects that are being delayed as well as that Thunderhawk upgrade I keep telling myself I am going to get around to doing some day. I would also like to expand my terrain and maybe add some sections to the gaming board that I never seem to get around to playing on.

The Joys of Moving, a Book Recommendation, and a Shout Out to Battlefoam

Okay, the move in complete and some normality (normalcy?-whatever) has been returned but I am now way behind on my monthly challenges for July and August. I still managed to get some hobby related things accomplished despite everything getting packed up and shipped off; a friend gave me some Aegis Defense Lines. Actually he gave me four. I cannot thank him enough to be frank. So again, thank you Steve.

Let me also recommend that you all pick up a copy of his novel that he wrote with his wife, "Powerborn" that was recently published. I don't tolerate crap fantasy well so the fact that he is my friend aside, it is a fantastic novel filled with fully fleshed out characters and art (yes art!) that you will not see in contemporary fantasy novels. Check it out on their website www.nenethomas.com

I also transported some GW Primer and Army Painter Primer from Oklahoma City (yet another shout out to New World Comics and Games) to Corpus Christi in the middle of a massive heat wave without letting it get hot. I believe this is one of the reasons it turns to garbage and comes out textured. Cool for some bits of terrain, conniption-inducing for those miniatures you worked really hard at putting together. Finally I have stared painting a ten-man squad of assualt marines and a five-man squad of terminators. I figure these will take me until the end of August and into September.

Not sure about the local gaming scene. I've set food in what appears to be the only gaming store in town and, well to be fair the guy is willing to special order but does not have a large stock. Frankly, the store is more of a Magic: The Gathering and LAN gaming spot with a smidgeon of Warhammer, 40K and Warmachine. The jury will remain out until I can give him a fair shake.

Last, a shout-out to Battle Foam. Everything packed in my cases survived intact but more importantly, I purchased two extra trays to cover some extra items. The packers, being the geniuses that they are, put them beneath heavy books in the boxes they all went in. Despite that, and a little worse looking for wear, the trays did their job and they managed to protect everything. Thanks Romeo.

Primed for action (some of the last of my old blue)